The new Facebook Messaging allows you to consolidate your chat messages, text messages, existing private messages and email too. It's meant to allow you to manage your online conversations more seamlessly and simply; than switching from one thing to another, all your messages will be in one place.

If a friend is using the new Messages, then they will be able to pass on an invitation to you too.

All of your messages on Facebook will be consolidated into one place. Instead of having to filter through your chat windows, everything that you have said whether it be over text message or a chat window the next day, it will all arrive in your Facebook Messages folder in a seamless way. You'll be able to focus on the content from your friends, and unknown senders such as fan pages and events will go to the Other folder.

Your Facebook username will become your new Facebook email identity. If you are www.facebook.com/joebloggs14 then your new email address for the site will become joebloggs14@facebook.com. If you haven't already got a Facebook username, then you can pick one here.

You can also send and receive messages from your phone, if you wish. If you set up text message notifications, then you can send and receive messages to and from your mobile device, and these will also be included in the Facebook Messages window. This means you can finish a chat with someone, send them a private message later on in the day, and when you are on the train home, send a text message where data may be in poor reception.

This is your new Facebook Messages view. Everything is all in one place, regardless of whether you have been sending messages over chat, private messages, over email or through chat via Windows Live Messenger.

The actions menu will allow you to forward entire conversations, add people to the conversation, archive, spam report or delete. Many of these options are available in existing email solutions like Hotmail and Gmail, though Facebook's communications are limited to the social network only.